7 Tips For Choosing The Best Metal Lunch Box For Your Needs

Regardless of what kind of lunch box you shop for in our store, the dimensions for everything are listed on the product pages. The biggest issue we'd found with metal lunch box options is the height. The very first metal lunch box we ever stocked was from Lunchbots, (they are no longer sold in our store). Their restriction is their height. At just 4cm tall for their larger capacity 960ml box, there's not a whole lot of fruit you can fit inside that box, and that was always the biggest question we were asked. Lunchbots did create a double height box with a removable bento divider, but it came and went without much fanfare (sadly).

As well as the height, the volume of food you want to put in should also play a factor. Check the volume on the lunch box you choose and work out just how much (or how little) food you're going to put in one and make your choice from there.

Below is the Green Essentials Sustain A Bento Trio with a better height at 7.2cm and just under 2 litres in capacity.

Many have tried, and failed. We're pleased to say not all though. Getting a silicone seal to sit in place inside a stainless steel lid but still easily removable for cleaning is not as easy as it is with a plastic food container. Most stainless steel lunch boxes are not leakproof. For those that aren't, ask yourself what's going to leak inside it and see if you can put it inside a smaller snack pot that will fit inside.

The Green Essentials lunch box range have 2 options where they got this right. Their rectangular leakproof lunchbox has a removable bento divider, or you can choose their Bento Box Five for the same capacity but with 5 permanent bento dividers.

In the past, Avanti Dry Cell also did the job, but they are no longer on the market and we did have some issue with the clips on the smaller ones not staying closed. Lunchbots also used to have round containers with a good leakproof lid but they are no longer available in Australia either.

This is a question we get asked frequently, and not an easy one to answer. The boxes with the 'biscuit tin style lids' which are Lunchbots and the single layer bentos from Ever Eco can be a little tricky for some small hands. Even the dual layer boxes with the clips can be a little tricky when hands are tiny. While metal lunch boxes are definitely the eco choice, tiny hands can have an issue with them if there's no-one to help them take the lid off at lunch time. Our returns policy does allow you to return them for a change of mind purchase as long as all the labelling is in place and they're not scratch or damaged in any way while you're testing it at home.

We find the easiest lids to get off for small hands are the silicone lids on the U Konserve Lunch Boxes

The vast majority of metal lunch boxes in our store are actually a bento lunch box with compartments, but not all of them. For some, the bento compartments are actually a double or triple layer container instead of compartments on one flat level. Ask yourself if you want or need bento compartments as most bento boxes made from metal on the market these days have the dividers fixed, so they can't be removed for a change of configuration. They are welded in to place.

When we got our own bento box made, we chose smooth curved compartments in our 5 compartment bento box for the easiest cleaning experience possible. The full silicone seal on the lid also makes it the only stainless steel bento box in store that has leakproof individual compartments.

Sandwiches are square. Almost all the stainless steel lunch boxes on the market these days are rectangular. So can you fit a sandwich in yours? If you want to be able to fit one in, please measure your bread and check before you buy. In many instances,  you will need to cut the sandwich in half and stack on top of each other, or in the case of the Lunchbots with up to 5 compartments, they can be cut in to quarters to fit in to some containers. Most people don't buy a bento for sandwiches, but it's nice to know you can once in a while and have it actually fit for you. A small sandwich can fit cut up in our Happy Sparrow Bento pictured above and several others.

Most lunch boxes will get placed inside an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack. If you already have a perfectly good lunch bag, then you'll want to find a box that fits inside it. If you're buying both, here's our handy tips for checking the sizing and whether your lunch box can remain upright during transport.

You will want 304 grade stainless steel, which is the most common and versatile stainless steel for lunch boxes and water bottles too. Your sink is most likely made out of it as well as cutlery, saucepans and even  your stainless steel pegs.